Tobacco stripper and classifier



June 20, 1961 G. LA MOTTE TOBACCO STRIPPER AND CLASSIFIER' 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 061;.

` 1NvENToR l GoLLAo/w AA/orn- June 20, 1961 G. LA MOTTE 2,989,056

TOBACCO STRIPPER AND CLASSIFIER F'l '0 l ed Ct 5 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTOR 70. 49 GouAonY H/l/orrf g2 66 United SQICS Patent 2,989,056TOBACCO STRIPPER AND CLASSIFIER Golladay La Motte, R.F.D. 1, ClarksvillePike, Hopkinsville, Ky.V Filed Oct. 5, 1960, Ser. No. 60,741 8 Claims.(Cl. 131-131) This invention relates to a machine of extremely simpleconstruction for rapidly stripping the leaves from tobacco stalks.

A tobacco stalk usually has leaves of ive different classes or gradescommencing with those nearest the base of the stalk and ending withthose nearest the tip of the stalk.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a machine whereinthe leaves will be separated or classified automatically as they aresevered from the stalk.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a machine capableof supporting and rapidly rotating a tobacco plant to cause the leavesto assume extended positions relative to the stalk by centrifugal force,and so that the leaves can be effectively severed rapidly from therevolving stalk.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a machine which isso constructed that the butt end of the stalk of a tobacco plant may bequickly applied to the rotatably driven part of the machine and thestalk there after quickly removed from said part after severence of theleaves therefrom, so that removal of the leaves from the stalk can berapidly effected.

Still ,another object of the invention is to provide a machine of theaforedescribed character of extremely simple construction which may beeconomically manufactured and sold, which is extremely efficient anddurable, and which may be expeditiously utilized. v

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

FIGURE l is a top plan view of the machine;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side elevational view thereof, partly brokenaway, and looking toward the machine from the lower end of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view, taken substantially alonga plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, taken substantiallyalong Va plane as indicated by the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional view, taken substantially along a plane asindicated by the line 5-5 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, taken substantiallyalong the line 6 6 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 7 is a cross sectional view through a part of the machine, takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 7--7 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view, takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 8-8 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view, takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line99 of FIGURE l, and1 FIGURE 10 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the electric circuit ofthe machine.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the tobacco stripper andclassifierA in its entirety is designated generally 12 and includes anelongated frame, designated generally 13, having a plurality, preferablythree, uprightlsupporting legs 14 on each side thereof and which supportat their upper ends a rectangular top frame 15 including end crossmembers 16 and 17 and intermediate cross 2,989,056 Patented June 20,196.1

lower longitudinally extending braces 20, each of which is secured tothe longitudinally aligned legs 14, and between which extend crossbraces 21, 22, 23, 24 and 2S. The front lower cross brace 21 isconnected to the upper front cross brace 16 by an intermediate brace 26which extends between and is secured to the intermediate portions of thecross braces y16 and 21, as seen in FIGURE 3. A similar upright brace 27connects the rear cross'braces 17 and 23, as seen in FIGURE 4. The frameuprights 14 have outturned foot members 28 at their lower ends which areadapted to rest on a floor or other supporting surface 29 and which aresecured thereto by fastenings 30.

An endless conveyor frame, designated generally 31, compriseslongitudinally extending side members 32 and 33 which are disposedsubstantially parallel to one another and which have supporting uprights34 at the ends thereof. The lower ends of the uprights 34 are providedwith outturned foot members 35 which are secured to the supportingsurface 29 by fastenings 36. The transversely aligned uprights of theframe sides 32 and 33 are coni nected by cross braces 37, as seen inFIGURE 4. The frame 31 is disposed crosswise of the frame 13 and has oneend thereof disposed in front o-f and spaced from the forward end of theframe 13. The frame side 32 of said frame end is disposed nearest theforward end of the frame 13 and one of the upright legs 34 thereof isdisposed in alignment with and connected `to a front leg 1'4 by a bottombrace 38 which rests on the surface 29. The other front leg 14 isconnected to the frame side 32 by a brace 39, as seen in FIGURES l and3. Accordingly, the frames 13 and 31 are disposed immovably relative toone another.

Bearings l40 are secured to Aand project outwardly from the uprights 34,so that the bearings 40 at each end of the frame 31 are disposed beyondsaid frame end and in transverse alignment with one another, as seen inFIG- URE l, to provide journals for the ends of shafts 41 and 42.Rollers 43 are fixed to the shafts 41 and 42, between the bearings 40thereof, and an endless conveyor belt 44 is trained over said rollers 43'and is disposed to travel within the frame 3l, between the frame sides32 and 33.

An electric motor 45 is mounted on the cross braces 24 and 25 and issecured thereto by fastenings 46. The armature shaft y47 of the motor 45is disposed longitudinally of the yframe 13. A shaft 48 is disposedabove the frame 13 and is journaled in bearings 49 which are fixed ltoand rise from the upper cross braces 16, 17 and 19. .An endless belt 50is trained over a belt pulley 51, fixed to the rear end of the armatureshaft 47, and a belt pulley 52, which is fixed to the shaft 48, andwhich is disposed in the same vertical plane as the belt pulley 51, fordriving the shaft 48 from the motor shaft 47.

A shaft 53 is journaled in bearings 54 which are tixl to and rise fromthe lower cross braces 21 and'22. The shaft 53 is disposed in alignmentwith the motor shaft 47, and the rear end of the shaft 53 is connectedby a coupling 55 to the forward end of the motor shaft 47. The forwardend of the shaft 53 extends to beyond the forward end of the frame 13and is connected to the end of the shaft 41, which is located nearestthe frame 13, by an endless belt 56 which is trained over a small pulley57, xed to the shaft 53, and a large pulley 58, fixed to the shaft 41.The belt 56 is crossed between the pulleys 57 and 58 so that the pulley58 and shaft 41 turn inthe is connected at its inner end to the head 60by a hinge 63, for swinging movement of said jaws 62 toward and awayfrom one another. A leaf spring 64 is secured by fastenings 65 to theouter side of the forward end of eachjaw 62. The leaf springs 64 extendinwardly of the jaws 62 and have weights 66 secured to their inner endsand which are disposed inwardly with respect to the axes of the hinges63.

A brake drum 67 is fixed to the shaft 48, between the chuck 59 and the-forwardmost bearing 49. A bracket 68 is secured by fastenings 69 to theforward side of the upper front cross brace 16, and to one side of thebrake drum 67. The bracket 68 has a forwardly offset, forwardlyextending horizontal top portion 7G. One end 71 of a spring metal brakeband 72 is secured by fastenings 73 to the -bracket portion 7-0 andcrosswise thereof. The brake band 72 has an intermediate portion 74 inthe shape of a split ring which s normally disposed around and spacedoutwardly from the periphery of the drum 67, and the inner surface ofwhich is covered with brake lining material 7S. The other free end 76 ofthe brake band 72 is disposed above and spaced from the end 71 thereof.The bracket portion 70 and brake band ends 71 and 76 have alignedopenings 77 through which a rod 78 slidably extends. A collar 79 issecured as by a pin 80 to t-he upper end of rod 78 and bears against theupper side of the brake band end 76. A coiled spring 81 is mountedloosely on the rod 78 between the brake band ends 71 and 76, for urgingthe brake band end 76 up` wardly, away from the brake band end 71, tomaintain the brake band portion 74, including the brake lining 75,normally out of contact with the drum 67.

The lower end of the rod 78 is provided with an eye 82, which isdisposed beneath and spaced from the bracket portion 70 and to which oneend of a cable or other flexible element 83 is secured. The other lowerend of the cable or flexible element 83 is secured to the inner free endof a foot pedal 84. Pedal 84 is connected at its other end by a hinge85, as seen in FIGURE 3, to a bracket86 which is secured by a -fastening87 to the upper side of the brace 38, so that said pedal extendsinwardly from the bracket. The cable extends downwardly from the eye 82under a pulley 88, and then laterally of the frame 13 and over a pulley89, from which latter pulley the cable extends downwardly to the pedal84. The pulleysl 88 and 89 are supported by the lower front cross brace21.

Looking from front to rear of the frame '13, as seen in- FIGURE 3, theshaft 48 is disposed near the right side ofthe frame and a rod 90 isdisposed to the left of said` shaft and of the bracket 68. The rod 90 isof noncircular cross section and slidably engages guides 91 which aresecured to and extend upwardly from the cross braces 16, 18 and 19. Therod 90 is provided at its forward end with a laterally extending arm 92which is disposed over the endless conveyor 33 and which extends towardan extension of the axis of the shaft 4S. A knife 93 is fixed to andextends forwardly from the arm 92 and is offset lfrom and disposedsubstantially parallel to the axis of the rod 90. As seen in FIGURE 9,the knife 93 has a sharpened upper edge 94. A handgrip 95 is secured tothe rod 90 between the arm 92 and the forwardinost guide 91.

A pushbutton switch 96 is interposed in the electric circuit 97 of themotor 45, as illustrated diagrammatically in FIGURE l0. The electriccircuit 97 can be connected to any conventional source of electriccurrent such as a domestic electrical outlet. The pushbutton switch 96is secured to the brace 38 to one side of and adjacent the brake pedal84, as seen in FIGURES 1 and 3.

To operate the machine 12 for stripping tobacco, the butt end 98 of thestalk 99 of a tobacco plant 100 is inserted into the chuck 59. This canbe readily accomplishedV since usually two of the chuck jaws 62, whichare disposed below the horizontal plane of the chuck, willbeswung-downwardly by their'weights 66, when the chuck S9 is notrotating, so that the chuck jaws will be sufiicientl'y opened to enablethe stalk butt 98 to be inserted therein. The operator, not shown,standing to the left of the pulley S8, as seen in FIGURE l, then appliespressure with either foot to the switch 96 `for closing the electriccircuit to the motor 4S to revolve the shafts 47y and 48 to cause thechuck and tobacco plant 100 to revolve in a counterclockwise direction,as viewed from front to rear of the machine, as indicated by the arrowsi101 in FIGURE 3. As the chuck 59 commences to rotate the weights 66will be displaced outwardly by a centrifugal force to quickly close thejaws 62 for clamping the stalk butt 98 in said chuck. The leaves 102 ofthe plant 100 will be caused to assume extended substantial radialpositions relative to the stalk 99 by a centrifugal' force as the plantis revolved. The knife 93 is disposed adjacent the stalk 99 and betweensaid stalk and the rod 90. While the tobacco plant 100 is revolving, theoperator will grasp the handle to move the rod 90 and knife 93 forwardlyor from left to right of FIG- URE 1. As the knife `93 travels toward theouter end or tip of the stalk 99, the tobacco leaves v102 will berevolved downwardly across the cutting edge 94 for severing each leaf102 near the stalk. The leaves 102 after being severed will drop ontothe upper flight of the endless conveyor belt 44 which is moving in theopposite direction to the shaft 48 as indicated by the arrow 103 inFIGURE 3, which is applied to the pulley 58. The

severed leaves 102 will fall in rows onto the upper flightv of the belt44, as indicated by broken lines 104 in FIG- URE l, and will thus beseparated or classified. The leaves will be conveyed in the direction asindicated by the arrow tips '10S of the lines 104 and discharged as thusclassified from the end of the conveyor 31 located remote yfrom theframe 13, substantially separated according to the different grades ofleaves between the base end and tip of the stalk 99. The knife 93 can berapidly moved from the butt end 98 of the tip of the stalk 99 forsevering all of the revolving leaves 102. As soon as this isaccomplished, the operator releases his foot pressure on the switch 96to deenergize the motor 45 and applies the foot to the brake pedal 84.Such pressure displaces the pedal 84 downwardly to exert a downward pullon the cable 83 and rod 78 for pulling the brake band end 76 downwardlyto contract the brake band portion 74 to draw the lining 75 into contactwith the periphery of the drum 67 to quickly stop rotation of the shaft48 and chuck 59. While this is being accomplished, the rod' 90 ismanually moved from right to left of FIGURE l to position the knife 93adjacent the chuck 59.

As the chuck 59 ceases to rotate one or two of the jaws 62 will swingopen so that the stalk 99 can be extracted `from the chuck and the buttend 98 of the stalk of another-plant i can then be quickly applied tothe chuck 59, so that the previously described operation can be repeatedwithout delay. When pressure on the pedal 84 is released, the spring 81will return the brake band 72 to a released position. This isaccomplished when the foot is removed from pedal 84 and applied to theswitch 96. It will thus be seen that leaves 102 can be quickly severedand sorted by one operator utilizing the machine 12 and in a much moreeicient and accurate manner than where this operation is accomplished byhand.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resortedto, without departing from the function or scope of the invention ashereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. A machine of the character described, comprising a frame having aforward end, bearings supported by said frame, a shaft journaled in saidbearings, an electric motor connected to and driving said shaft andsupported by said frame, means secured to an end of the shaft anddisposed'beyond said forward frame end and adapted to receive anddetachably clamp the butt end of a tobacco plant stalk for revolving thetobacco plant in unison with said shaft, a rod, guide means mounted onthe frame in which said rod is slidably and nonturnably supported to oneside of and substantially parallel to said shaft, a knife supported bysaid rod beyond the forward end of the frame, said knife being disposedparallel to said shaft for movement along and substantially parallel tothe revolving stalk of the tobacco plant, when the rod is manuallyactuated, -for severing leaves from lthe stalk as the leaves revolveacross the knife.

2. A machine as in claim 1, and a driven endless conveyor having one enddisposed beneath the tobacco plant for receiving the severed leaves andAfor conveying the leaves toward the other end of the endless conveyorand away from said frame.

3. A machine as in claim 2, said endless conveyor being disposedcrosswise of the -frame and tobacco plant whereby the severed leaveswill fall in rows on said endless conveyor for classication.

4. A machine as in claim 3, means `forming a driving connection betweensaid endless conveyor and motor for driving the endless conveyor at agreatly reduced speed relative to the speed of rotation of said shaft.

5. A machine as in claim 4, an electric switch for stopping and startingsaid motor, and a manually actuated brake for stopping rotation of theshaft when the motor is de-energized whereby the stalk from which theleaves have been severed may be quickly removed from said clamp meansand replaced by the stalk of a tobacco plant to be stripped.

6. A machine as in claim 1, said means comprising a chuck having pivotedjaws between which the tobacco stalk is releasably received, andcentrifugal means connected to said jaws for urging the jaws towardclosed positions for clamping the stalk therein when said chuck isrevolved with the shaft.

7. A machine of the character described comprising a frame, bearingssupported by said frame, a shaft journaled in said bearings, an electricmotor connected to said shaft, a chuck secured to an end of said shaftand adapted to receive therein the butt end of a tobacco plant stalk,centrifugal means forming a part of said chuck for closing the chuck toclamp the stalk therein when the chuck is revolved with said shaft, aknife, and means supported by said frame and supporting said knife formovement longitudinally of the shaft along and in close proximity to therevolving stalk -for severing the leaves therefrom as the knife is movedfrom end-to-end of the plant.

8. A machine as in claim 7, an electric switch for controlling theoperation of said motor, and a manually actuated brake `for stoppingrotation of the shaft and chuck when the motor is cle-energized by theswitch to enable tobacco plant stalks to be readily applied to andremoved from said chuck.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS149,107 Dykeman Mar. 3'1, 1874 198,327 Winn Dec. 18, 1877 442,471 AmesDec. 9, 1890 1,723,606 Dolan Aug. 6, 1929 2,574,030 Green NOV. 6, 41951

